Building Radar is a search engine which seeks to generate sales leads for construction companies all over the world using Sentinel data.

The Copernicus Masters is an international competition which awards prizes to innovative Earth Observation applications which provide solutions to business and societal problems. More than 700 applications from nearly 60 countries have been submitted to the competition over the past five years, of which 40 have been awarded prizes (overall winners and winners per category).

The winners of the Copernicus Masters 2016 will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 25th October 2016, coinciding with the Satellite Masters Conference. With just a week to go before this occasion, Copernicus Observer interviewed Marc Bickel and Bastian Burger, last year’s overall winners, who were also awarded the Space Imaging High-Res Urban Challenge prize for their Building Radar platform, and asked them to share with readers what winning the competition meant to them and how it has helped them to create new business opportunities.

How would you explain to users what your application, Building Radar, does?

Marc Bickel (MB): Building Radar is a search engine which seeks to generate sales leads for construction companies all over the world using Sentinel data. We provide our customers with up-to-date, high-class, validated leads to accelerate their business. This way, our customers save a considerable amount of time [searching for business and potential clients] and generate more sales by being the first in the market to identify and act upon potential sales opportunities.

A wide variety of materials, equipment and services are required at different times during the various stages of a construction project. We use a smart and unique search algorithm to find all new construction projects around the globe and collect the most important metadata, including contact details and products needed. In addition, we use Sentinel-2 imagery to obtain accurate, reliable and timely information on the progress of the construction projects. Copernicus data allows us to monitor construction sites, and the progress can be shown through satellite imagery.

In your opinion, which were the decisive elements that make your idea stand out among the others? What did it mean for you winning this competition?

Bastian Burger (BB): It is a difficult question, but we would say that the main differentiator is our application of Sentinel-2 data, which solves a problem that is not directly related to Space research. Instead we found a non-obvious niche in which the data create a significant added value. This is attractive to our customers, just as it was to the Copernicus Masters jury, since it shows that the new possibilities of open satellite data are not limited to heavy weight applications (e.g. monitoring of large-scale phenomena such as deforestation and urban sprawl), but can provide added value in a variety of markets.

Winning the prize was a huge confirmation that what we are doing is of value not only to our customers but to the community of technologists and entrepreneurs who learn from one another. Most of all, we are very proud of the people in our team who were capable of winning such a competitive prize with top contributors from all over Europe. Hence, we are very proud winners and enjoy being able to showcase this achievement to our new hires and to the media, as in this case to the Copernicus Observer readers.

You previously mentioned that Building Radar makes use of Sentinel-2 imagery to obtain information on the progress of the construction project. Why Copernicus data?

MB: To monitor the progress of construction projects, we need frequent coverage in high quality resolution to detect the slightest changes in the construction phases. There are only few systems capable of delivering this value at the moment. Thanks to its free, full and open access policy, the Copernicus programme proved to be the most interesting, as it provided us with the opportunity of great freedom as well as data reliability.

Aside from the monetary prize, what business opportunities does winning the Copernicus Masters bring?

BB: A renowned prize such as the Copernicus Masters, carrying the emblems of the European Commission and the European Space Agency, is a powerful marketing instrument. It has helped us to build trust with our prospective customers and to attract many new tech hires, especially in the field of satellite technology. The work we put in the preparation of the challenge and the valuable feedback we received naturally contributed to us creating an even better product.

Which are the business opportunities within the Copernicus ecosystem? And what would your advice be to other entrepreneurs on the use of Copernicus data?

MB: Whilst all of our competitors have to physically visit every single construction site, the Sentinel data allows us to view and automatically monitor any construction site worldwide from behind our desks. Our smart imaging algorithms can draw conclusions for example about the location of new remote construction sites and about the progress of work in existing ones. This data source sets us apart from any of our competitors.

At present, the use of Copernicus data requires certain technical implementation skills. As opposed to simply downloading a satellite image, it has to be created from a number of layers of raw data. This offers a great deal of technical flexibility on how to process and display the data, but it also means that the quality of your image is a function of your available technical expertise. The processing and maintenance of the data is likely to be very costly, especially for computer hardware such as servers. I would advise other entrepreneurs to think carefully about whether their customers are willing to pay for this additional service; in our case, the business model has proven successful! Copernicus data undoubtedly opens up a whole new arena of possible business operations in currently untapped markets.

Finally, which message would you send to encourage the use of your service?

MB and BB: Copernicus has made available a huge volume of new, free and open data to the public. This data offers countless new opportunities and opens up possibilities in technology, education and business. The programme gives entrepreneurs and citizens alike the opportunity to create something entirely new.

The Building Radar platform takes full advantage of the possibilities of Copernicus in its service offering. The capabilities added by Copernicus to our search engine technology lift the service quality to an entirely new level.

Disclaimer: the European Commission does not endorse any specific commercial enterprise.